William Darrah KELLEY

(1814-1890)

KELLEY, William Darrah, a
Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Philadelphia, Pa., April
12, 1814; pursued classical studies; apprentice in a jewelry
establishment 1828-1835; moved to Boston, Mass, in 1835 and was
engaged as a journeyman jeweler; returned to Philadelphia in 1840;
studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1841 and practiced in
Philadelphia, Pa.; deputy prosecuting attorney for the city and
county of Philadelphia in 1845 and 1846; judge of the court of
common pleas for Philadelphia 1846-1856; unsuccessful candidate for
election in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress; delegate to the
Republican National Convention in 1860; elected as a Republican to
the Thirty-seventh and to the fourteen succeeding Congresses and
served from March 4, 1861, until his death in Washington, D.C.,
January 9, 1890; chairman, Committee on Coinage, Weights, and
Measures (Fortieth, Forty-first, and Forty-second Congresses),
Committee on Ways and Means (Forty-seventh Congress), Committee on
Manufactures (Fifty-first Congess); interment in Laurel Hill
Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pa.